Through the Crystal Ball
by xStarxWolfx
Summary: Kid is looking for another of Eibon's Demon Tools when a strange-looking paperweight sends him into another time! Who's that kid who looks just like him? Hey, why's he named Death the Kid too? Includes Shinigami/Eibon friendship.
1. What Do You Mean We're Stuck Here

Heya everyone! Well, after stalking the SE front page (and not finding many good stories, non-SoMa or otherwise) I've decided to give you all a story I'm working on ;D Unlike some other stories I've started, I really want to work on this one (which should be good news to you). It's fun to write ;) I'll post this and the other chapter I finished, and you guys tell me whatcha think of it so far, 'kay? Kay. Enjoy! :D

/

Death the Kid squinted through the pitch-black darkness, trying to make something out of the black shadows. He could barely feel his way around, and had had to carry Liz and Patty around as weapons because they kept getting separated. He scowled at the amount of dust covering every trinket and the layer of dust gathered on the floor. It looked like no one had been here in years.

His honorable father asked him to come here. It had seemed a likely place for one of Eibon's tools, or perhaps even a page from his book. The Kishin had been defeated, but Shinigami had still expressed a desire to collect all of Eibon's pages and tools. He had said it was so they couldn't fall into the hands of evil, and Kid believed him fully.

Coughing, he made his way into a room. It had numerous papers and unfinished projects littering the counters. Dust covered everything, much like everything else in this abandoned shack. Kid walked over to the counter and closely inspected the mess. It made him twitch violently, so he put Liz and Patty down for a moment to try to at least make it semi-presentable. Liz and Patty transformed back into humans, stretching out. Kid could hardly hear Liz's complaint about her gun form, for he was too immersed in cleaning. Suddenly, his hand brushed against something. He picked it up in curiosity. It looked like a completed project.

Interested, Liz came over and inspected what Kid picked up. It looked like a round, glass paperweight, reminding the demon pistol of those crystal balls that the rip-off psychics in New York used to rob tourists of their money. Patty walked to her side, curious.

"What is it?" the younger sister asked, intrigued.

"I don't know," Kid replied, staring intently at the ball as if he expected it to bite. He inspected it more closely to notice that there was a faint line that traveled along the ball's circumference. It looked like it had the ability to open, so Kid took it in his hands and squeezed it, attempting to pop it open. Despite his inhuman strength, he was unable to open it. He took the ball back into one hand, glaring at it. He started to scratch his head, deep in thought. How would one open this? What's inside? Could it be dangerous? He didn't have time to think anything else, for the ball emitted a cracking sound.

"You broke it! You broke it!" Patty started chanting as she saw the line that Kid had discovered open slowly. Kid and Liz were shocked, not sure what to do. The ball cracked open a little more, a bright light shining out of it. Kid, Liz, and Patty could do nothing as they were sucked in.

One odd feeling of being sucked through a tube later, the trio found themselves landing on their backsides…in the same room they were in previously. A closer look revealed that the layer of dust covering everything had disappeared, leaving a bright gleam. Liz blinked.

"It…cleaned?" she stated dumbly. "How lame."

"Not entirely," Kid replied, observant as ever. "This room is different than before. Doesn't there seem to be less now than there was? And where's that paperweight?"

Liz was about to reply, but she was cut off by laughter coming from outside. "Someone's coming!" she panicked. The three looked around for someplace to hide when Kid suddenly whispered, "In here!" and shoved the two pistols and himself into a closet. He had just managed to close the door when two people came in.

They appeared to be boys about Kid's age. One had short brown hair and green eyes, and he was holding a notebook to his chest. He dressed in a red shirt and brown pants with green shoes, and a yellow scarf wrapped around his neck. The other boy looked almost exactly like Kid himself. He had Kid's black hair, complete with the three Sanzu lines on the left side. He also had golden eyes, and was dressed in a black cloak with many spikes and curls, with ragged black pants and black dress shoes. Two blue eyes and a golden eye watched them from the closet as they began to speak.

"We scored today, huh, Eibon? We got so much stuff!" the Kid twin exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air.

"Data," the one named Eibon corrected politely.

"Uh, right," the other replied, grinning nervously and scratching his head.

Suddenly, Patty let out a long drawn gasp. Panicking, Liz hurriedly put her hands over Patty's mouth. She was too late, however; Eibon had heard and turned around to face the closet.

"Did you hear that?" he said, still talking to the closet.

The three eyes had widened at this point, and Liz's back was pressed against the back of the closet in an attempt to hide better. Even Patty knew it was time to be quiet.

"Hear what?" the black-haired boy asked, pinning up a piece of paper on the wall.

"…nothing, never mind." Eibon turned back around reluctantly. He set the notebook down on the counter and stared at it, deep in thought. The Kid look-a-like peered at him for a moment, then grabbed his hand.

"Come on, I bet my mom's got sandwiches!" he said enthusiastically, dragging Eibon out the door. The trio was about to step out before the other boy came back in, minus Eibon, and peering suspiciously at the closet. He slowly approached the door, tiptoeing to it before throwing the doors open. "Ah HA!" he shouted, but frowned at the sight of nothing there. He squinted closely at the corner before scowling and rubbing his head, exiting without a second word.

"Why couldn't he see us?" Liz asked, turning to face air where Kid should have been. She looked around, but she could see neither Kid nor Patty. "Kid? Patty?"

"What?"

"Mmph!"

Liz heard the muffle of her sister and the disgruntled whisper of her Meister, but she still couldn't see them. She gasped. "Kid, we're invisible!"

Kid opened his eyes and immediately shimmered into being. The two weapons followed, turning visible again. The shinigami stared at his hands and blinked. "Did I do that…?" he wondered incredulously. The duo's conversation had faded away, and so they exited the cramped closet.

"That kid looked just like you!" Patty exploded after Liz lost her hold on her mouth. Kid groaned and rubbed his head as he sat up.

"I know. Perhaps that ball brought us to some sort of different universe?"

"Where you're friends with Eibon?" Liz asked, standing up. "…Possibly."

"At any rate, where's that ball? We need to get back home," Kid said. The trio ransacked the place, looking everywhere in the small little shack, but after ten minutes of searching and searching again, they came up with nothing. Liz sighed as Patty looked in the closet for the millionth time, while Kid was putting his hands on his hips. "Well, we're in a slight predicament," he sighed.

"Slight predicament? You mean we're _stuck here!"_ Liz shrieked, shaking Kid roughly. Kid removed her hands and spoke calmly.

"Calm down. For starters, let's follow Eibon. Maybe he has something we can use to get back home." Liz seemed pleased at this plan, and so the trio set out of the shack.

They skid to a halt immediately after they left the front door. Death the Kid remembered coming to this place, and it was desolate, barren wasteland. Before them, however, was a lush, green, hilly area, with a few trees spotting the tops of the hills. Luckily, from his vantage point at the top of the hill, Kid could see that Eibon and his friend hadn't gotten far. Using the hills for cover, the trio quietly stalked the two boys. Well, almost quietly; they had climbed into a tree in order to get cover, but it turns out it wasn't as big as it looked. Patty had planted her foot firmly in Kid's cheek, while Liz had clutched the branch like a lifeline, effectively shoving Patty off. Patty had said some choice words, while Kid was irritated and trying not to get them spotted.

Eibon and his friend had, unfortunately, overheard this conversation. The black-haired boy turned around and grinned manically. Motioning for Eibon to stay there and watch, he slunk over to the other side of the tree and climbed it with ease, then perched himself on the branch above the three strangers.

The trio noticed this, and looked up into a grinning face.

"Hiya."

Screaming, the three unceremoniously fell out of the tree and crashed, one by one, on the hard roots. Kid heaved as Liz, then Patty fell on his stomach. The boy jumped out of the tree, landing on his feet on the soft grass. He turned around to face them.

"You guys are horrible stalkers," he teased. The trio had gotten up at this point, and was now in their common formation of Liz, Kid, and Patty, from left to right. Kid stared blankly at the other version of what looked so much like him.

The boy grinned back before frowning and looking him over. He tilted his head and half his body, taking on a pose that made Kid inwardly gasp, recognizing the position. He frowned. It couldn't be; it wasn't.

"Say, you look kinda familiar!" the kid said, his voice loud and commanding, but friendly at the same time. He was like a nicer and less egotistical but just as loud version of Black Star. He circled Kid, giving him another once-over. "Hmm…" He saw Kid's hair, and he gasped.

"Your hair! You have Sanzu lines! You're a shinigami, aren't cha?" the boy exclaimed, pointing to the offending lines. Kid stuttered, but didn't have time to say anything more as the boy cut him off.

"Don't worry; I'm a shinigami too! Your secret's safe with me! I'm Death the Kid!"

This didn't surprise Kid.

"Shinigami CHOP!"

This did.


	2. Just a Spoonful of Souls

Heeere's chapter two! I worked hard making sure it was perfect ;D I would give you chapter 3 as well, but sadly I haven't finished writing it yet. Also, I'm gonna have a LOT of fun with the chapter titles ;D Enjoy~

/

Kid blinked, coming to (it turns out those Shinigami Chops actually _hurt_), and looked around to meet a pair of green eyes staring worriedly down at him. Kid blinked a couple times, clearing the brown and pale cream fuzziness around them. "I'm so sorry," Eibon apologized. "That's his favorite way of greeting new people."

"Aw, walk it off," the boy named Death the Kid scoffed, waving his hand. "So, kid, what's your name?"

Kid stared at the other Kid before grabbing Liz and Patty by the arms and pulling them into a huddle. They started to whisper fiercely to each other.

"Kid, explain what the hell is going on. Why did you do the Shinigami Chop?" Liz demanded. "It doesn't seem like you, and neither does this kid!"

"That's because I don't think it's me," Kid replied, closing his eyes and scowling in confusion and doubt. "What I think is that the ball took us back in time. I think this is my father when he was my age."

"What!" Liz whispered as loud as she could. "You're kidding, right!"

"It does explain a lot, though," Patty noted in a rare show of wisdom.

"Yeah," Kid agreed. "He certainly acts like my father. He just looks like me because he's my father and we have the same name because…well, I can only guess that it's tradition to name your son 'Death the Kid' since we're destined to become Death when we come of age."

Meanwhile, the other Kid pouted, indignant at being ignored. "What's with him? He's really weird!"

"You just chopped half his brain cells out!" Eibon exclaimed exasperatedly, throwing his hands in the air. "He probably thinks _you're_ weird!"

Looking back to the bickering two, Liz turned back to the huddle. "Whatever. What we need now is another name for you, since we can't let on your name is Death the Kid, too."

Patty put a finger to her cheek in thought. "What's a name for a rich kid?"

"Mmm," Liz frowned, in thought. "William? Henry? Carter?"

"Do I look like any of those to you?" Kid muttered, shaking his head. "I need a _good_ name."

"How about Cameron?" Patty suggested. Kid and Liz stared at her in amazement. "What? I come up with good ideas!" she insisted, pouting.

The three broke up, causing the argument that was taking place between "Kid" and Eibon to cease. The two looked at him, Eibon looking curious and the young Shinigami looking irritated.

"Finally remember your name, have ya?" he asked, in that same dominative tone he used before. "Jeez, I didn't hit ya _that_ hard…"

"No, I'm sorry," Kid quickly apologized. He held out a hand. "I'm Cameron."

Glancing at Kid's hand, Shinigami's frown quickly formed his cocky grin. "Nice to meet ya!" He took Kid's hand and shook it roughly. "I gotta say, I've never met another shinigami before. You from around here?"

"Um, no," Kid answered, shaking his head. "I, ah, travel around a lot, and just came around yesterday and I'm trying to find my way around."

"Don't worry, me an' Ei-chan'll be happy to show you the ropes." He jabbed a thumb in Eibon's direction. "By the way, that's Eibon." Then he leaned in, peering at Kid suspiciously. "But you already know, since you were spying on us!"

Kid blinked. "H-how did you know?"

Shinigami tapped his temple. "You should know! You have it too, right? You can see living souls!"

Kid blinked again. His honorable father had never told him that he, too, had Soul Perception- the ability to perceive the souls of those still living. From what he heard from his father or read in books, Soul Perception didn't develop in Meisters until the war with the witches- which hadn't happened yet. Shinigami must be different, he mused.

It was at that moment Shinigami noticed Liz and Patty standing beside Kid, watching this whole exchange. He glanced at each one curiously. "And who're these two?"

Kid inwardly sighed happily. Usually, when people met him, someone tried to hit on Liz or Patty (usually Patty). Not that he suspected his father would do such a thing, but it was comforting. "Liz and Patty. They're my Weapons."

Shinigami was just about to extend a hand before freezing. "Whoa, whoa, whoa!" he shouted, waving his hands frantically. "Ya mean, like," he leaned in to whisper in Kid's ear, "_Demon Weapons?"_

Kid nodded. "Yes."

The other boy stared at him for a minute, slightly sweating. "No way," he breathed. He spun around to Eibon, who looked just as shocked as the former did. "Eibon, did you spill!" he demanded.

"No way! I've never told a soul, swear!" Eibon quickly defended. Shinigami frowned, turning his gaze towards the ground. "Well, _I've_ never told anyone…unless someone secretly kidnapped me and gave me something that makes me tell the truth, and then they wiped my memory and sent me back home!"

The four stared at him. _What an imagination…_

"Um…sorry, what?" Kid asked, bewildered. Why was he so upset at the sight of a Demon Weapon? He would be training them eventually, after all.

Shinigami turned to him. "It's supposed to be a secret! Eibon here, he discovered a way to turn people into weapons!" he whispered excitedly. He suddenly turned serious. "But how did you find others?"

"Um, f-freak accident," Kid stuttered. It was a horrible lie, and Shinigami knew it; he saw right through it. His father examined Kid closely before backing off, fists on his hips.

"Well, you look trustworthy to me, so whatever!" he declared. He cracked open a golden eye and asked, "Say, you travel a bunch, right? You haven't seen any other Demon Weapons around, have ya?"

Kid shook his head. "No."

"And you haven't told anyone else?"

"No."

"Good. Well, see, have you tried fighting with them?"

Kid nodded. "Yes. I work very well with them."

"You can resonate with two weapons?" Shinigami asked incredulously. "Wow, but how can you wield two scythes?"

Kid blinked. "Liz and Patty are twin guns."

"Guns! Seriously!" Shinigami exclaimed. He spun around to the other boy, who was already taking notes on a scrap piece of paper. "Eibon, Weapons can take different forms!"

"I know, I know!"

Shinigami turned back to Kid. "Can you synchronize your soul wavelength?"

"Soul Resonance? Yes, of course."

"Wow!" Shinigami was so blown away by this statement, he actually fell over. "It's like you know all our secrets! And maybe even more..." He got up and put an arm around Kid's shoulder. Kid suppressed a reminiscent shudder. "Say, d'ya think you can share a few secrets with us? We'll keep it top-secret, trust me!"

"Uh…yeah, sure."

"Great!" Then, Shinigami noticed the two girls again. "Oops! I'm sorry I've been ignoring you. This is so exciting, you know? It's nice to meet you!" He extended a hand and shook Liz and Patty's hands. Spinning around, he ran ahead a few feet before spinning around again. "Well, come on! My mom's got sandwiches just waiting to be eaten!" With that, he marched off. Eibon ran to catch up with him, while Kid, Liz, and Patty trailed off a few paces away.

"Hey, Kid," Eibon started. "Do you really think we can trust that guy?"

"He knows a lot about Demon Weapons, Ei," Shinigami replied. "He could teach us a lot. Besides, what's not to trust? He looks exactly like me!"

"Exactly," Eibon pointed out. "Don't you think that's a little odd?"

"I dunno, maybe it's a shinigami thing or something." Shinigami rubbed his arm nervously. "But come on, Ei, won't you try to be friends? I got a good feeling about this kid, I know it!"

Eibon sighed, knowing that once Kid was set on something (which didn't come often), there was no talking him out of it.

"Hey, Kid, you know you're going to go meet your grandmother, right?" Liz asked, a little unnerved.

"I know." If anything, Kid looked even more unnerved.

Outside the front door, Shinigami stopped and swiveled around to face Kid.

"Um, 'kay, see, the whole Demon Weapon thing? I'm kind of keeping it a secret from my parents. They can be kind of funny about anything that isn't related to shinigami stuff. So, uh, try not to bring it up, 'kay?" Kid agreed, and so Shinigami continued on his march into the house.

They all walked into the kitchen, where a young looking woman was chopping tomatoes on a cutting board. "Mama, I'm home!" Shinigami announced.

"Welcome home, Kid, Eibon," the lady noted Eibon's presence without even turning around. Kid thought for a moment that she might have Soul Perception like her son (and grandson, for that matter), but the thought was quickly dismissed when she didn't react to Kid's presence.

"Hey, Mama, look! I made some new friends today!"

"That's very nice, hon-" Shinigami's mother had turned to see the new friends her son had brought home, and promptly dropped her knife in shock. It wavered violently as it stuck into the ground.

Shinigami grinned. "This is Cameron and his friends, Liz and Patty. Cam looks just like me, right Mama? Are you sure I don't have a brother I shouldn't know about?" he teased.

"Death the Kid, that's not funny," his mother chided.

"Aw, come on, Mama. We both know I didn't get my good looks from _Dad,_ after all." He spoke the empathized word with…was it disgust?

"Now, Kid, your father works very hard. You need to show some more respect."

"Works, my foot! The world's a total mess thanks to Dad!" Shinigami argued.

"Kid, enough," threatened his mother. Shinigami backed down, but only reluctantly.

"Speaking of which, your father wants to see you."

"Aw, but Mamaaaa!"

"Now."

Groaning, Shinigami stalked his way past Eibon and the others, vanishing into a room off the side. Eibon turned to the trio.

"I'm sorry. He always gets really…touchy after yelling with his dad," Eibon explained. His voice was naturally quiet, Kid noticed. He was very shy.

"Do they not get along?" Kid asked, confused. He didn't have any sort of idea what his father's home life was like; whenever he asked, his father would always tell him he didn't remember. After years of living with him, however, Kid could always tell that he was lying. Now, he saw why.

"Not get along? Kid and his father are like cookies and tar, in that order. Kid thinks –correctly- that his father isn't doing a good job as the shinigami. He's always saying he can't wait to become the shinigami so he can rescue the world from his father. His father treats him like an object, though- something to be replaced should something be wrong. He's only gotten this far because of his mother."

Now, they could hear yelling. Kid, Liz, and Patty inched closer to the door.

"Why don't _you_ do it?" Shinigami was snapping. "You _are_ the shinigami."

"I worked all day-" a deep voice was saying, but Shinigami's loud and young voice overlapped him.

"You worked nothing! I bet you didn't even get a single evil soul!"

"Watch your tongue."

"Oh? Or you'll do what, _honorable father_?"

There was a smack. Kid, Liz, and Patty all winced. Looking through the window of the door, they could see the shadow of Shinigami on the wall. He stumbled back a few feet, then put a hand to his cheek.

"Fine. Whatever. I'll do your damn job for you." The trio quickly darted from the doorway as Shinigami threw it open. He stomped through the kitchen and the hallway, not even stopping when he grunted, "Eibon. You three. Come with me."

The trio and Eibon followed him out the door, where Patty promptly questioned Shinigami, "Where are we going?"

"There's a group of Kishin Eggs terrorizing the town, so as usual, my heroic father is sending his only heir to deal with it." He turned around to Kid, his cocky demeanor returning. "Besides, didn't ya say you were a good fighter?"

Caught off-guard, Kid stuttered, "Y-yes."

"Okay, then!"

They made their way into the run-down town. It was totally deserted; windows squeaked as they hung open, dust made small tornadoes in the wind, and basically it was the showdown scene in every Western movie, minus the lack of grass and roads. There were patches of yard sprinkled among the concrete roadways.

"There's nobody around," Liz stated nervously, looking around. This place freaked her out.

"They're all hiding from the Kishin," Eibon answered calmly. "But we don't have to look for it. It'll come to us, since we have two shinigami souls here."

As if on cue, a man with a knife sprung off the roof of the building and planted on the road in front of them. A second man soon joined him with a club. A third man with claws for hands jumped down, as well.

"Eibon," Shinigami commanded. Eibon nodded and glowed a purple light before jumping up and turning into a scythe. He had an odd pattern on his blade, almost identical to the one he will put on his heavy robe eventually. Shinigami caught it and swung it around, taking an offensive stance.

"Liz, Patty," Kid ordered. They both cried, "Yes!" and glowed a pink light, turning into guns that Kid caught and loaded. Shinigami turned around briefly to grin at them, but it wasn't his usual overconfident grin; Kid couldn't quite place what it was. He didn't have time to ponder it, however, as Shinigami had turned back to the Kishin.

"Kishin Eggs, your souls have strayed from the path of light and become evil souls. For the sake of the world's order, I'll take your soul!" he called out, the cocky grin still evident on his face. The Kishin with the knife only snarled in reply and charged for Shinigami.

Giving a battle cry, Shinigami charged for the Kishin with the knife as well, the two clashing. Kid stood back and shot at the two other Kishin about to attack Shinigami as well. This caused the one with the claws for hands to go after Kid.

Kid stood in the Stance of Sin and, moving with blinding speed, tripped the Kishin and pinned him down, shooting at his face. The Kishin snarled angrily, swiping Kid with his claws. Kid winced as one of the claws met his arm. He leapt off the man and loaded his guns again, shooting violently at the Kishin. Once the Kishin was effectively slowed down, Kid stole a glance to Shinigami.

Shinigami was holding his own well enough against the man with the knife, meeting his every attack with a swing of the scythe. Eventually, though, the man with the club made his way in, and struck Shinigami on the back. Shinigami fell forward, blood spurting from his mouth, when the man with the knife took this opportunity to sink his knife in Shinigami's stomach. Shinigami's eyes rolled back, and he choked up blood.

"Kid!" Eibon cried out.

"Father," Kid breathed worriedly, but luckily not loud enough for Eibon or Shinigami to hear. He shot at the Kishin holding him back before rushing over to where his father was and taking a well-aimed kick to the man with the knife's head. The man flew back, but his knife ran deeper into the death god before it came out. Loading Liz again, Kid aimed her at the man with the club and started to fire. The man stumbled back with the force of the blows.

Shinigami sputtered and spat blood, wiping his mouth with his sleeve. He looked to Kid. "Thanks," he panted, nodding.

Kid only smiled in return. This was quickly replaced with a frown as a few more Kishin gathered around them. They each held various weapons, and looked just as experienced as the three others. Kid and Shinigami moved to face back-to-back, each taking up a defensive position.

"There's too many," Kid told him, glancing at him briefly.

"I'm not sure that, ah, what was it you called it? Soul Resonance, yeah, I'm not sure it's going to do it," Shinigami replied, concerned.

"Then let's do Team Resonance."

"What?" Shinigami demanded, completely bewildered.

"Resonate with me."

"I can't resonate with a Meister!"

"Yes, you can! We just have to balance our soul wavelengths. We can match them to empower each other. It's difficult, but I know we can do it. Our souls are very similar."

Shinigami hesitated, but a snarl from the nearest Kishin made him accept. "Alright. I trust you."

"Perfect." Kid closed his eyes and focused on expanding his soul. It was easy enough, and he could hear the wind rushing past as it became visible. He could hear and feel Shinigami's soul expanding, as well. Kid was right; his soul, at this stage, was almost identical to that of Kid's. This would make it much easier for them to match their soul wavelengths.

Taking a deep breath, he willed his soul to give Shinigami power. It worked; a long, silver tail exited his soul barrier and touched Shinigami's own.

The effect was immediate. The combined soul swelled enormously with the power of two shinigami, plus four Demon Weapons. Shinigami opened his eyes and raised his scythe. Kid glanced at it, and knew immediately; he was using Witch Hunter. However, this Witch Hunter had the power of not only Shinigami and Eibon's souls, but Kid, Liz, and Patty's souls as well. It kept enlarging.

"Is that…Witch Hunter?" Liz asked incredulously.

"No," Kid answered. "A Witch Hunter that surpasses Witch Hunter. It's…"

Screaming, Shinigami resonated with Eibon to the limit, until Eibon had finally shifted into a large, darkly colored blade. It came back to him, this feeling; the memory of his ancestors wielding the same scythe, using the same techniques, fighting the same evil. All throughout time the shinigami had kept the world's balance, and he be damned if he allowed the Kishin to destroy it. Screaming, he swung the scythe, all the bloodlust and power of the shinigami flowing through him.

"DEMON HUNTER!"

The simple slash was enough. Every Kishin that had gathered was immediately turned to black ribbon. Kid gazed at the mass of red souls that surrounded them, a little nervous at the power his father displayed at such a young age. He felt like his Death Cannon paled in comparison. _He can use the Demon Hunter already? Amazing…_

Panting, Shinigami released Eibon and promptly collapsed. Eibon transformed back into human form and turned his partner over, inspecting the deep wound in his chest. It had already begun to heal, but it was serious. Shinigami didn't seem to mind, however, as he sprang up as soon as Kid, Liz, and Patty walked over.

"Did you see that! I did Demon Hunter!" he told Kid excitedly. "I've never been able to do that before!"

"It was impressive," Kid admitted.

"Oh! But I couldn't have done it without you, of course. So, Meisters can resonate too! Amazing!" Shinigami cheered, dancing around with happiness. Eibon tried to stop him, whining, "Wait! You're hurt!"

Suddenly, Shinigami was distracted by something. He ran over to Kid and admired the guns that were still in his hands. His hands started to twitch. "They're…they're…perfectly symmetrical!" Shinigami cried, tears streaming from his golden eyes. Eibon sighed. "Not this again," he grumbled.

Liz nodded, slightly disturbed. "Yeah, that's why Kid chose us as his weapons."

Shinigami huffed. "Lucky!" he complained.

The other shinigami threw Liz and Patty in the air, making them transform again. Shinigami inspected Liz and Patty very closely. His expression of curiosity was quickly replaced with one of irritation. He spun around, his shoulders shaking. "But your human forms are different…your height and hairstyles are different…" He turned around and grasped one of Liz and Patty's breasts. "And your breasts are two different sizes!"

_Bam!_

Shinigami grunted in pain, gritting his teeth from the fist that had just landed on his cheek. "Hey! Hands off the merchandise!" Liz yelled. "Besides, you're just like him- those three lines don't make you symmetrical at all!"

Shinigami looked scandalized, then collapsed on the ground, fists pounding in a temper tantrum. "I know! I'm so hideously asymmetrical! I'm garbage! I don't deserve to be a shinigami! I should just die!"

Eibon sighed, walking over to comfort his friend. He patted Shinigami on the back gently, telling him that he would surpass his father and become a great shinigami. Patty giggled, Liz gaped in shock, and Kid was even surprised.

Liz turned to Kid. "Wow, you are _just_ like your father," Liz noted, giggling. Kid batted her playfully. "Shut up. Of course he likes symmetry. Symmetry is the ultimate beauty."

Shinigami raised his head, having heard that last sentence. Now it was his turn to gape as he ran over to Kid. "You think so, too? We have so much in common! I wish I could have symmetrical weapons, too, but my dad says I have to have a scythe like my ancestors," he whined, stamping his foot to empathize his point. The two shinigami continued to talk about symmetry and how unsymmetrical the two weapons were.

Liz threw her hands up in the air and scoffed, walking away from them and towards the souls. Patty followed her, but still had trouble distinguishing human souls from evil souls, despite the obvious color difference.

"Kid, it's okay if we take these souls, right?" Patty asked. Kid nodded in reply, which made the two boys exchange frantic glances.

"Huh?" Shinigami drawled, confused. "Take them?"

Kid turned back to him. "Of course. Guns types like Liz and Patty use them as ammo, but other weapons, such as scythes like Eibon, eat them."

"Eat them? And you don't turn into a Kishin?" Eibon asked.

"No. That's only if you eat human souls."

"Oh…" Shinigami walked over to a soul and plucked it from its resting place in the air. He walked back to his Weapon, staring at the soul resting in his hands. When he got to Eibon, he stopped and extended his hand, the blood red soul floated calmly in his palm. "Bottoms up, partner!"

Uncertainly, Eibon took the soul from the god and held it in his hands for a moment. He picked it up by the tail and hung it above his mouth it, opening it slightly at first, then eventually widening it to fit the whole soul. He dropped the mouth in and closed his mouth, sucking up the tail that hung out. He chewed on it for a moment before swallowing thickly. The soul slithered down his throat, leaving a cool sensation that made him shiver. He sighed, his breath feeling cold.

Shinigami blinked. "So? How was it?"

"Actually, it was kind of…cool."


	3. The Great Marshmallow Fight of Long Ago

The wind ripped through the small town, wrenching the branches of trees so far that some snap under the pressure and are lost to the pouring rain. The streets flooded with the merciless downpour, making tidal waves that drowned papers and other items lost to the will of the powerful storm.

A boy with green eyes looked upon the tempest through a foggy window. The window was haphazardly placed at an angle within a crudely made but sturdy wooden tree-house, built in a thick tree that didn't even budge at the gale-force winds.

"It looks very bad. I don't think we'll be able to get home," Eibon reported, turning to the four others. The clouds had turned dark after their fierce battle with the Kishin, but Shinigami had insisted on showing the trio their tree-house. Eibon had only consented because it contained the medical supplies necessary to treat the deep gash in Shinigami's chest. His shinigami powers healed it, but only slightly faster than an average human's, and, as Shinigami refused to go shirtless (especially in front of Liz and Patty), the cloth would only irritate it. Shinigami weren't pain-free, after all.

Shinigami shot him a grin. "Great! That means we can have a sleepover in the tree-house!" He turned to Kid, Liz, and Patty. "What do you guys think?"

Liz scratched her head. "It's not like we have anywhere else to go…"

Kid nodded. "Sure."

"Neat!" Shinigami replied, lifting his arms as Eibon continued to wrap bandages around his bare upper body. Eibon glanced at him nervously.

"But what about Liz and Patty?" he muttered, blushing and sweating a little.

Shinigami blushed deeply, realizing this fact. "Oh! Yeah, they're girls, right? Well…hmm…" He tilted his head and closed his eyes, deep in thought. "Well, I guess it'd be okay. Liz and Patty are cool, y'know? Just," he paused, opening his eyes to stare at Kid. "no funny business, okay?"

Kid started, blushing. "W-What?"

The other shinigami only laughed in reply.

Liz took another look at the storm. "Won't your parents be worried?" she asked Shinigami.

"Mmm…" Shinigami closed his eyes and tilted his head back, thinking. He rocked back and forth as he answered. "Not my dad, definitely. As long as I defeated the Kishin, he couldn't care less where I was. My mom might be, though she can't do a whole lot about it."

"Oh," Liz could only say in reply, looking away. Shinigami opened one eye and noticed this.

"What about your family?" he asked curiously.

Liz only shrugged. "They're not really important. K—I mean, Cameron and his father are pretty much Patty and I's family now."

Kid looked surprised by this statement, and he turned to look at Liz strangely. The latter only offered a smile, which Kid returned.

Shinigami leaned forward, staring pointedly at Kid. "You have a father?" he said, tilting his head.

Kid bit his lip to keep himself from grinning. "Yeah. It's only my father, though. I don't have a mother. Before Liz and Patty came, it was just him and I."

"No mother?" Shinigami asked, confused.

"Yeah. She didn't die at birth or anything; I was just born a weird way. I'm a fragment of my father. Besides, I'm not really sure I can see my father actually…you know, _having_ a girlfriend. Or a wife. Or something." He tried not to grin as Shinigami looked as confused as ever. Then his father's expression shifted from utter bewilderment to curious. "Hey, Cam?"

"Yeah?"

"What's your father like?"

It took every ounce of Kid's negative personality and sheer will to keep from smiling. He struggled to maintain a blank face, and masked this by looking like he was thinking. "He's the best," he finally said. "He dedicated his life to hunting evil, and even when he bound his soul to the desert, he still opened a school to train other—other people," he had to stop himself from saying _weapons and meisters_, "to fight evil only when he could no longer physically move from his city. He- as much as I doubt him sometimes- he always manages to make the right decisions. He stands for so much and…well, I…sometimes, I feel like I can't live up to him," Kid admitted, forgetting for a moment that he was talking to his father's younger self.

The aforementioned death god tilted his head, his eyes wide in awe. "Wow," he breathed, sitting back. "He sounds so cool. I wish he was _my_ dad." He noticed Kid's sad frown and slightly hung head, and leaned forward. "But, hey, don't worry about trying to live up to him! Do things your own way. I know you're gonna make a great shinigami." Kid looked up to see the reassuring smile planted on Shinigami's face. Kid couldn't help but smile and laugh softly, shaking his head. Shinigami frowned. "What?"

"You only just met me!" Kid tried to cover up.

"I know, and that's what's weird. It's like…something about you…" Shinigami put a finger to his lip and trailed off, trying very hard to pinpoint something. "Don't you get that feeling too?"

Now it was Kid's turn to look confused. "What feeling?"

Shinigami tilted his head, staring at Kid. "Mmm…" he murmured, trying to place it. After a moment of thinking (and staring at a very anxious Kid), he finally shook his head. "Um, never mind. Anyways, tell me more about why he can't leave his city."

While Kid was retelling the story of his father's damning moment to…well, his father, Liz had walked over to Eibon, who looked very left out. Patty was just looking around and being herself, sometimes watching the storm with wide eyes or acting like a cat on the floor.

"What about you, Eibon?" Liz asked, trying to make conversation. "Do you have a family?"

Eibon squirmed slightly, feeling uncomfortable. He looked away and blushed slightly. "Um…my parents were killed by witches when I was five," he mumbled. Liz suddenly felt very guilty.

"Um, I'm sorry—" she started, but Eibon cut her off with a raise of his hand.

"It's not that, don't worry. Um, I'm sorry I'm not very sociable…Kid's better at that sort of thing than I am," he admitted, laughing nervously and shooting Liz an embarrassed smile. She smiled in return.

"So, where do you live now?" she asked, out of curiosity.

"I live with Kid and his parents. I met Kid one day and he offered to take me in after he heard that I didn't have a home or a family anymore. His family accepted me and everything. Well, mostly his mom did. His dad really doesn't care either way, but he can stand me since he doesn't like the witches either. Apparently shinigami and witches have this long-standing rivalry or something. It goes back a really, really long time." He sighed, then started in embarrassment. "Oh! I'm rambling, sorry," he apologized.

"Don't be sorry! It's really interesting."

"But, you live with Cameron, right? How's that like?"

"Um…it's…interesting. I used to live on the streets, so living in a mansion and having anything and everything you want, without stealing it, it was a real change for me and Patty. K—Cameron's kind of a freak, though, so that was odd, too. As for his father, he's a whole other eccentricity entirely, but he's really nice. He sort of adopted Patty and I. He always looks out for us and stuff. And also 'cause he owes us since we're there to deal with Cam instead of him," she admitted, laughing.

Eibon laughed along. "Yeah, Kid's the same way. I have to admit, I feel horrible for whoever gets stuck with him as an adult. Heh, heh."

Liz was about to reply when a particularly loud crack of lightning sounded through the thin walls of the tree-house. She jumped and clung to Patty, shaking violently and whimpering. Patty patted her head soothingly.

Shinigami looked at Kid questioningly.

"She's easily frightened," Kid explained.

"Ooh! Then this is the perfect time for spooky story time!" Shinigami jumped up and darted to the cupboard, where he extracted a bag of marshmallows. He rushed back to where Eibon and Patty, with Liz and tow, had begun to form a circle around the blankets that provided a soft comfort from the hard floor.

"Yes, because you haven't lived until you've had spooky story time with death," Eibon sighed, sitting down on a blanket.

Shinigami sniffed in reply and dumped the bag in the middle of the circle, then sat down. "I wanna go first, I got a really good one!" he declared excitedly. He cleared his throat. "In Fairmont, West Virginia, there is a small house and rumor has it that the house is haunted. The house was occupied by a family who no one really knew anything about. Everyone in the neighborhood was afraid of them. Her dad was even scarier and looked as if he was always mad. The girl seemed afraid of him. Nobody thought this was unusual because everyone was afraid of him, until one night. The police were at the house, but the neighbors didn't know why they were there. The next day, my mom and her classmates found out what had happened. The father came home that night drunk and beat his wife and children to death. Then he went into his truck, set it on fire and shot himself in the head. Now they say, if you go anywhere near the house you can hear the painful screams of the family being brutally murdered by the father." He finished with an ominous but knowing tone. He nodded. "True story."

Liz shivered and Eibon looked uncomfortable, but Patty and Kid were unfazed. Shinigami leaned towards Patty. "Well, can _you_ do better?" he challenged.

Patty stood up, cleared her throat, and spoke in her most menacing tone. "On an isolated road, around midnight, in upstate New York, a man and his girlfriend are driving. Suddenly a car approaches them from behind. 'Pull over!' he says. The man shrugs and turns in a dirt road. He gets out and talks to the man. 'What is it, babe?' the girlfriend asks, but she gets no answer. She shrugged and continued to browse through the different radio stations. Then she heard a crash. 'Babe?' she said hesitantly. She ran out of the car and saw her boyfriend's head bouncing back and forth on the radio antennae. The back lights were smashed in. Screaming, she goes to get her cell phone out of the car. As soon as she opens the car door she hears, 'No use. . . No one will answer you.'"

Liz was shuddering violently now, and it looked like she might cry. Eibon was getting very nervous and fiddling with the hem of his shirt.

Kid and Shinigami stared at her with the same indifferent expression, blinking.

"Wow, I think I am actually bored to death. Oh, wait!" Shinigami joked solemnly, smacking himself in the head.

Patty pouted. "Jeez, telling scary stories to death gods is hard!" she whined. "Fine, fine! I got another scary story. One that you'll even think is scary."

Shinigami and Kid leaned in with a bored expression as Patty turned around and recited the story.

"Once, there was this girl walking up an alley in Chicago. She was lost, and was hoping to find something on the other side of the alley. It turned out to be a dead-end; except for this house. She took a look at this house, and it was…" She turned around, putting on her best scary-face. "HIDEOUSLY UNSYMMETRICAL!"

Shinigami and Kid screamed in unison and hid under the blankets, shuddering and whimpering. Patty was laughing loud and victoriously, while Liz and Eibon were sighing.

The older shinigami was the first to escape from the hiding place under the blankets. He jumped up and stormed over to Patty, yelling, "What the hell! That wasn't cool, ah…" His face softened from burning fury to curious. He blinked. "Are you Liz or Patty?"

"Patty!" she answered cheerfully.

Shinigami's face grew infuriated again. "What the hell, Patty!" Patty only giggled obnoxiously, which caused Shinigami to march over to the marshmallow bag, pick one up, and fling it at the Weapon's head. Patty flinched, then her face grew infuriated. Shinigami swallowed. It was the scariest sight he had ever seen, besides that one horribly asymmetrical school he saw once.

Suddenly, Patty snatched the bag of marshmallows and started to pelt Shinigami with them. The boy tried using his hands to protect himself before he spotted a pillow and used that instead. Marshmallows bombarded the soft padding like bullets. Patty kept hurling marshmallows like a human turret, even as Shinigami abandoned the pillow in favor of using Kid as a shield. Kid was less than happy about this.

A minute into the assault, Shinigami spied the marshmallows that had bounced off of him, the pillow, or Kid. Still using Kid as a guard, he gathered up some marshmallows and put them into a pile. Deciding that he had collected enough, he took one and fired. Patty only retaliated by way of more marshmallows. It wasn't long before a marshmallow fight that would be spoken of for years to come broke out in the tree-house.

In the aftermath of the battle, Shinigami took a good look around the tree house. Marshmallows were everywhere; under tables and in cracks and scattered in odd places with dust sprinkled on. He glanced around at the mess, and then promptly announced that he was going to bed. Eibon dragged him out of the mess of blankets and stuck him in front of a corner, telling him to help. Shinigami did so, but only grudgingly, and not without escaping a few times.

After cleaning up the tree house, Shinigami yawned loudly and told them all to shut up and go to bed or he'll be forced to kill them all. Eibon apologized, saying that he was quite cranky when tired. This made Shinigami hit him exhaustedly, then collapse back onto the pillows and fall right asleep.

Yellow eyes opened to find nothing but darkness. The storm was still raging, but it had calmed considerably; now there was nothing but flashes of lightning lighting up the old tree house. Kid glanced around before noticing another pair of yellow eyes staring at him.

"You're up, too?" Shinigami whispered. Kid nodded as Shinigami continued. "I can't sleep. That asymmetrical story was really scary!"

The former blinked as his father inched closer to him. "Can I snuggle with you?" he pleaded.

"What? Absolutely not!" Kid whispered back furiously.

Shinigami's eyes filled with tears. "Why not?" he whined.

"Because it's weird?"

"Aw, c'mon! Pwease! Pwease!" Shinigami begged, getting on his knees and clasping his hands together. Kid sighed quietly. "Fine."

"Yay!" Kid grimaced as the other cuddled closer to him. This was too weird. Still, he couldn't help but be reminded of those times when he was little, when he had slept next to his honorable father after a nightmare. Honorable father chased the bad dreams away. He always did.

When light broke through the dusty windows of the tree house, someone moaned and blankets shifted. The boy with light brown hair sat up, rubbing his bright green eyes. He turned to his side.

"Hey, Kid, wake…" he trailed off as he saw his friend and the new boy that looked like his friend sleeping next to each other, the former curled up against the latter and the latter looking oddly at peace. Eibon blinked slowly, his mouth opening just slightly.

He smiled.

"I see."

/

Eibon knowwwwws! Eibon's a smarty-pants like that. Speaking of which, how 'bout that English dub for him? I wish they made his voice a little higher, like in the Japanese dub. He sounds like such a creeper in English. I loved Shinigami's little "crafty Eibon" comment though. Also, BJ is a dick. "Too much is going on for him to be acting like a petulant child. Tell him he doesn't have a choice." Can't you see Shinigami is depressed enough already without you insulting his little baby? And by the sound of Kid in the next episode ("It wasn't exactly my choice and I really don't want to talk about it") it sounds like Shinigami actually listened to him! DX Totally against his will, though TT_TT Dumb BJ, insulting Death's precious little son.

Also, "Creepy clown! Who are you?"and "I'm back, baby!" I LOL'D. SO HARD.

I also like how they put in the "Manhelding/Mandolin" pun in ep 41. I was getting worried they substituted it for that lame "Coffee beans?" joke like in ep 39.

Uh, dubbing babbling aside, I know this was a short chapter ;;; I've already got the other chapters mapped out (sort of; I still have a few decisions to make) but, yeah, it's pretty much almost all laid out. X) Review please? *puppy eyes*


	4. Scarf Lad and the Other Really Old Guys

"Da da da da," Shinigami sang absentmindedly as he skipped down the sidewalk. Patty skipped merrily beside him, the two arm-in-arm. Eibon, Kid, and Liz stalked on behind them, feeling less enthusiastic.

Suddenly, Shinigami and Patty stopped short. Eibon didn't notice and walked on until he ran right into Shinigami's back. Kid followed, crashing into Eibon. Liz bumped into Kid. The three looked around the reaper.

"What is that?" Kid deadpanned, pointing to something on the ground. It looked like a figure made entirely from a liquid substance. It pulsated.

"No, really," Kid continued when no one answered. "You see it too, right?"

"It looks like peanut butter!" Shinigami declared. He stuck his finger into the substance, paying no heed when it squealed. He jammed the liquid-covered finger in his mouth and licked it off, smacking his lips to get a good taste. Suddenly, he collapsed.

Kid and Eibon rushed over to him, each taking an arm. Shinigami raised his head to reveal a sick, twisted smile, his golden eyes wide. His mouth had four lines through it, as if his mouth was stitched together. He smiled like that for a moment before snapping out of it, coughing and panting. Kid and Eibon let go of his arms as he quickly darted to a side of a building. "What the hell was that?" he yelled, his eyes wide with fear and confusion. "It was like peanut butter insanity!"

"FOOL!"

The five turned to the left, where a white creature stood, pointing his cane at them. Kid grimaced. "Not him," he groaned. Shinigami turned to him. "You know this thing?"

"You don't?" Kid asked, raising an eyebrow. Then he remembered. _He probably hasn't met him yet…_

"Peanut butter was a substance created from peanuts, of course," the creature explained. "Insanity is a force that has been here as long as life and death."

Eibon spoke up. "Thanks, but we already kne-"

"FOOL! Do you know who I am?" he asked Eibon.

"Um…no, sorry, I don't," he answered politely.

"FOOL! I am Excalibur! The legendary Holy Sword!"

"Oh, okay, then. I'm Ei-" Eibon extended his hand, but Excalibur swatted it away with his cane. "Hey!" the former whined, confused and hurt. He rubbed his hand.

"FOOL! I didn't ask your name!"

"But it's only-"

"FOOL! What time is it?"

"I…don't-"

"FOOL! You should always wear a watch. Or learn to tell by the position of the sun. I cannot, of course, because my contacts would dry out. Every night I fill a bucket of water and step into it. Do you know why? My feet get awfully sore. Also, I button my pajamas from bottom to top. It's the proper way. Only fools button from top to bottom." As Excalibur continued, Kid pushed Eibon and Shinigami away from him. "Trust me, he's disgusting," he muttered to the two very confused boys.

They continued to skip and walk all the way to the park, where Patty and Shinigami raced to the other side. Eibon and Liz sighed together as Patty jumped on Shinigami's back, claiming victory. Shinigami's face was one of defeat.

The five had a picnic. Shinigami's mother had packed everyone sandwiches and other picnic items. All was going well until Shinigami grew bored and decided to have a little fun. He placed a grape onto a plastic spoon and bent the spoon back, aiming for Kid. He let go, and the grape smacked Kid in the face just as he was about to take a bite of his sandwich.

Kid growled and glanced around, then noticed his father barely hiding his chortling. The former seized the untouched bowl of potato salad and flung it into Shinigami's snickering face. As the bowl slid off, Shinigami's expression was one of surprise. He wiped the potato salad off his face and glared at the smug Kid.

"Oh, it's _on,_" he growled. He tackled his future son and the two wrestled through the grass and down a small hill. Liz and Eibon stared at them, both having the same shocked expression on their face. Patty giggled.

"You're dead meat!" Shinigami snarled, trying to pin one of Kid's arms down. Kid growled playfully and flipped them over so that he was on top. "Hah!" he boasted, sitting on Shinigami. The latter flailed and growled, trying to remove the younger shinigami. "Get off!" he whined. "You weigh a ton! Urf!"

Finally, Kid relented and stood up. Shinigami scrambled to his feet and brushed off the dirt on his cloak, glaring at Kid. The latter only offered a smug grin, to which Shinigami stuck his tongue out at. Suddenly, he picked his head up and spun around. On the highest hill in the park, a boy about their age sat under a cherry blossom tree and gazed off into the sunset.

Shinigami blinked. "Who's that?"

After cleaning up the picnic mess, the five walked up the highest hill, Shinigami leading. The boy didn't turn when they arrived. He didn't say anything.

"Hey!" Shinigami greeted. "What's up?"

The boy didn't reply. He had many more scarves than Eibon, all white and all having the same three-eyed pattern on them. They covered most of his face, except for his black and red eyes. His black hair had odd eye-shaped symbols on it, much like Shinigami and Kid's Sanzu lines.

Eibon winced slightly, but Liz caught it. She turned to him. "What's wrong?"

He looked at her. "O-oh, uh, it's p-probably nothing," he stuttered, smiling nervously.

Shinigami blinked, then took a seat beside the boy. "My name's Kid. It's short for Death the Kid. I'm the shinigami's son. What's your name?"

The boy didn't reply again. The four others watched as Shinigami frowned and raised his hand. "Hey, can ya hear-"

Just as he was about to touch the boy's shoulder, one of the boy's scarves whipped out and smacked his hand away hard. Shinigami flinched visibly, holding his hand. He stroked the reddening mark.

"Hey, what was that for?" he demanded. "I just wanna know your name."

"Go away," the boy replied. His voice was low and emotionless. The reaper smiled excitedly. "Ha, I got you to talk! Now, I-" He didn't have time to finish, as he was struck by another scarf that had formed a fist. He flew back and skidded along the grass. Eibon rushed to his side.

"Kid, are you okay?" he asked worriedly. Shinigami ignored him and got to his feet again, rubbing his red cheek with a smile.

"Ow. You're a pretty good fighter, then, I guess? C'mon, just your name. I'd be easier for me to get to know you if I know your name first."

The boy remained silent. Shinigami took another step closer, only to be stopped by a hand on his shoulder. He looked back into Eibon's frowning face.

"Kid, stop. This kid's crazy. He's only gonna hurt you again," he said.

"He just needs a friend," Shinigami replied with a smile, removing Eibon's hand. Eibon didn't give up.

"Kid, seriously! I'm not joking, you're gonna get hurt again!"

"Who cares?" Shinigami demanded, his tone angry.

"I do!"

"You're just mad because I'm trying to make a new friend!"

"No, I'm mad because this kid is _completely insane_ and you're getting hurt just by trying to talk to him!"

"You're just jealous!"

"If I was jealous, wouldn't I have said something about Cameron? Anyway, you're completely blowing this out of proportion! I just don't like the kid, that's all!"

"And since when do I need your approval to make a friend?"

"You'd rather get hurt?"

"He's just shy, that's all! Maybe he'd make a better friend than you!"

"So you wanna replace me, is that it?" Eibon's face was furious. His teeth were gritted tightly and his eyebrows were furrowed. Shinigami mirrored his expression.

"Yeah, maybe I do!"

"Fine! Be that way!" Eibon's angry expression remained for a moment before his eyebrows relaxed a tiny bit, curving upward. His bright green eyes filled with tears as his expression turned heartbroken. He quickly spun around and tore off towards town.

Shinigami's angry expression slowly changed to a horrified one. "Eibon…" he murmured softly, his heart filling with regret. He spun around to see that the boy with scarves had left. He hung his head.

Kid stepped forward, remembering his father's name. "Kid…?" he murmured, reaching out.

Shinigami furiously rubbed his tears away with the sleeve of his cloak. "Damn…I screwed up. I'm disgusting…" he choked through barely held back sobs. Kid came up to him and put a hand on his shoulder, comforting him.

"It's all right…you didn't mean those things you said, right? Eibon will understand," he assured softly.

The older shinigami sniffled. "Me and Eibon…we've been together forever, you know…"

/

"_Ah!" Eibon cried as he fell to the ground. His small body throbbed with pain. He had no strength to stand up or run. Even if he did, he knew that they would only catch up and punish him. They stood above him, all three of them as big as buildings. Eibon doubled over and cried in pain as one of their huge feet connected with his soft stomach. _

"_Heh. Wah, wah! What a baby," the right one spat as he withdrew his foot. The left one agreed. "Yeah, what a wimp! _She_ can't even stand up!"_

_Eibon gritted his teeth and tried to ignore the pain long enough to reach around for his glasses. He could see well enough without them, but he needed them to read whatever he could scrape up. He loved to read…was that why they were beating him up? He knew a lot. Maybe they wanted his knowledge? He didn't know. He didn't understand. The pain numbed his thoughts. His hand was stopped short by a large foot resting on it, just enough to stop it from moving._

"_Aw, the nerd wants her glasses! Should we give it to her?" the right one asked the one in the middle. The middle one smiled in reply. "Naw, I have somethin' else in mind for 'er. My own special lil' present." He lifted his foot, freeing Eibon's hand for a moment. Then it came down again._

_Eibon screamed as the bones in his wrist cracked. He couldn't move his wrist or his fingers. He couldn't even feel his hand anymore. Tears streamed from his green eyes and dripped onto the pavement through choked sobs. The bullies laughed. Eibon shut his eyes as he felt the back of his shirt being lifted. He choked as he was slammed against a brick wall._

"_Aw, you know the rules. No cryin', girlie. Now you gonna get it." Eibon didn't open his eyes, but heard the leather crack as the bully tightened his hand into a fist. He winced, bracing himself for what was about to come._

_It never came. Instead of hitting him in the face, he heard the fist hit something else. He cracked open his eyes to see another hand stopping the fist cold. It was connected to a boy his age, with three white half-stripes in his jet black hair. He was wearing a black cloak that split into shadows at his knees. His bangs parted to reveal a bright golden eye._

"_Leave him alone," the boy stated coldly._

_The bully quickly removed his fist. "Who the hell are you?" he demanded._

"_Death the Kid. I'm the shinigami's son," the boy replied smoothly, with just as much emotion as before._

"_A shinigami? Yeah, right. Get this punk, boys." The two other bullies growled and rushed towards him. The boy didn't move until they were three feet away from him. Suddenly, shadowy skulls shot out of his back and tore through the air, pinning the two to the opposite wall. "Disgusting," he hissed, the skulls releasing the two. They slid down the wall. _

"_Damn it!" The bully let Eibon go. The latter slid down the wall, having no strength to move or run. His wrist throbbed. _

_As the bully approached the black-haired boy, a golden eye peeked out from his bangs, curious. Suddenly, his bangs parted to reveal two wide golden eyes. His face was astonished. "You're…perfectly symmetrical!" he declared happily. Eibon gaped. _

_The bully blinked, but took a swing at the reaper. The latter did nothing as the fist collided with his cheek. He flew back and skidded along the ground before righting himself. "I can't hit something so symmetrical. I'll have to run," he mumbled to himself. He rushed around the bully with blinding speed and grasped Eibon's wrist. Eibon cried in pain, making the shinigami freeze. He turned around to look at the brown-haired boy._

"_What's wrong?" he asked._

"_My wrist…it's broken," Eibon choked out. The boy gave a quick yip and released Eibon's wrist. He grabbed the other wrist. "How's this one?" he asked. The bully jumped, preparing to tackle the two._

"_It's fine."_

"_Then let's go!" The boy pulled on Eibon's wrist, escaping just as the bully landed. The two raced off. They ran until the boy took them to a tree, where a rickety shack had been built in the branches. He helped Eibon climb up the ladder before climbing up himself, shutting the flap after him. Once inside, he sat Eibon down on some blankets before grabbing a medical kit from the counter. He set it on the ground and opened it, grabbing some tape. He started to wrap Eibon's wrist._

"_Sorry, I'm not very good at this sort of thing. My injuries heal really quickly, so I never have to do this sort of stuff," he admitted, laughing softly. Eibon blinked. "It's okay," he mumbled._

"_Anyways, my name's Death the Kid, but you can call me Kid for short. It's only until I become the shinigami that I'll become Death. Right now, I'm still just a Kid, ha ha! What's your name?"_

"_Uh, Ei-Eibon," Eibon stuttered._

"_That's a cool name! Where do you live?"_

"_Um…nowhere," he admitted shyly._

"_Hah? Are your parents poor or something?" Kid asked, cocking his head._

"_No, I…don't have any parents. They were killed by a witch a year ago. I've been living on my own ever since."_

_Kid lowered his head and started to shake as he continued to tape Eibon's wrist. "I hate witches," he spat through gritted teeth. "When I'm the shinigami, I'm gonna make sure they don't ever threaten the world again. And I'll kill the witch that killed your parents. I swear it."_

_Eibon blinked. He had just met this boy, who just happened to be a god of death, and already he was swearing to kill a witch that he had no knowledge about? This boy…was weird._

"_Anyway, until I'm the shinigami, you need somewhere to live. You wanna come live with me?"_

_Eibon smiled. This boy was weird, but who knows? He might like it. "Sure, that'd be great."_

_/_

"Eibon! EIBON!" Shinigami yelled through the streets of town. Night had fallen- the sky was dark and cloudy. Rain poured onto the streets and soaked through the four's clothes. Shinigami's black shoes made splashes in deep puddles as he darted this way and that, checking every nook and cranny. Kid and the twins looked around with him, though they checked less thoroughly. When an hour of their search turned up with nothing, Shinigami was starting to get desperate.

"Where is he? He'll get a cold in this weather! He's not a shinigami! I have to find him!" he cried to Kid. The latter tried to calm him down. "Relax! Think this through. Where would he be hiding? Does he have any favorite places to go?"

Shinigami cocked his head, thinking deeply. Suddenly, he straightened. "I know where he is!" he said excitedly, speeding off. Kid held out a hand. "Wait, father…" he mumbled when Shinigami was out of earshot. Kid groaned.

The other reaper was running off. He splashed through puddles and jumped garbage cans, rounded corners and flew through alleyways. The same scene played again and again in his head.

"_Hey, Eibon," Kid started, his arms folded behind his head as they rested on the tree trunk. Eibon looked over from his sitting position next to the reaper. "Yeah, Kid?"_

"_When I become the shinigami, will you help me? You know, help me keep the world's balance and all that? Will you be Death's Scythe?"_

_Surprised, Eibon glanced at his friend before looking out into the sunset. "I'll be with you until the end, Kid."_

'_With me until the end,' _Shinigami thought. _'Please, Eibon. I'm sorry! Please keep your promise!' _He rounded a final corner and skidded into a deserted parking lot. There, slumped up against a brick wall, was Eibon, his eyes dull and his face streaked with rain and tears. Shinigami ran up to him and slid into a kneel beside him. He was quiet for a moment.

"The same parking lot, huh? I think I can still see my skid marks from here," he joked lightly. Eibon didn't even blink. Shinigami fell quiet again, desperate for a way to put his thoughts into words. In the end, he decided to give it up. He grasped Eibon by the shoulders and started to shake him.

"Eibon, I'm sorry! I didn't mean all those things I said, I really didn't! I don't know what I was thinking. You were right about that kid. I was just being an idiot, like usual. Please, Eibon! You said you'd be with me until the end, right? That you'll become Death's Scythe? Well, I need your help sooner than that. Eibon, look at me!" he begged.

Eibon's dull green eyes, which had been trained on a spot just to the left of Shinigami, finally darted upward into the reaper's pleading golden eyes. Shinigami stared at him for a moment.

"Will you help me defeat my father and become the shinigami?"

Eibon's lips slowly curled into a smile.

"I'll be with you until the end, you idiot."

Shinigami broke into a smile, tears swelling up in his eyes. He wrapped his arms around Eibon and squeezed him tightly. Eibon smiled and hugged him back, slightly amused.

Meanwhile, Kid and his weapons had finally caught up to the two. The rain made Soul Perception difficult to impossible, but luckily the broken trash cans made a clear path to the rampaging shinigami. Kid looked on to the sight of the two making up and smiled warmly. Liz couldn't help but smile at her meister's gentle face. "You really care about your dad, don't you?" she teased. Kid looked away and blushed, pouting.

/

fcking long chapter ;asaflhd;kajh;f but I haven't updated in a while since I've been on vacation so here ya go! but dear god I meant for this fanfic to be all friendship but now we have LizxEibon and ShinigamixEibon wtffff also a little LizxKid at the end but since it's fanon- COUGH COUGH canon I don't worry so much about it. Also, if you stretch it (_reaaaaaally _stretch it_)_, ShinigamixKid. (to the extreme yaoi fangirl's mind, the wrestling scene was just screaming sexual tension. I mean, just take a few sentences out of some parts and you've got hardcore yaoi right there. _"Wait, father…" [Kid] mumbled. …. Kid groaned._) (wtf, me, this fanfic is rated K+. …I think. What is this fanfic rated again? I never look at those…)

But fff. I tried looking up fanfics of the last one, cause I was in a pervy mood, but all I found was a preview for a yaoi douinji that I can't find the full (or translated) version of anywhere (I will never see Shinigami's…spiky pointy wtf he uses as legs the same way _EVER AGAIN_) and a deleted Spanish fanfic that I really wanted to read but such is life.

I know people go 'ewwww' at incest and sometimes I go 'eww' but mostly I foam at the mouth (and you do too, don't deny it. there's a yaoi fangirl in all of us). I just wish ShinigamixKid got as much love as SpiritxMaka, since I've read two fanfics of them. fff, incest, want! I admit. I AM A NORMAL FANGIRL NO JUDGE PLZ.

/long author's note

P.S. Is it just me or has this fic gone from Funny with Moments of Angst (like I intended) to Angst with Moments of Funny? Or am I just overreacting and they're both the same thing? I hope the latter ;;;


	5. The Idiot's Guide to Revolution

"LISTEN UP!" the human reaper yelled at the top of his lungs. Standing in front of Eibon, Kid, and the twins, he held up a paper with a crude picture of his father on it.

"Death the Kid's Guide to Revolution, Step One! Know your enemy! Know his weakness and strengths to plan your battle accordingly!" he shouted. The audience nodded.

Shinigami threw the paper down to grab another piece of paper that he snapped at Eibon. "Death the Kid's Guide to Revolution, Step Two! Plan your battle! Eibon, that's your job."

Eibon saluted. "Yes, sir!" he replied as strongly as he could manage. Clipping the paper to his clipboard, began to scribble hastily.

Shinigami, meanwhile, spun around and leaped onto a nearby picnic table, raising a finger to the sky. "Death the Kid's Guide to Revolution, Step Three! Choose a leader!" He jabbed a thumb to his chest and stood proudly, a smirk on his face. "That'll be me."

Kid raised his hand. "Then, what does that make us?" he asked.

Shinigami hopped down from the table and leaned in closely to Kid's face. "You guys are the brave warriors, of course! But not as brave as me." He raised a fist to his chest, looking up into the sky proudly. "I'm gonna be as brave as grandfather!"

"'Grandfather'?" Kid whispered to Eibon.

"Kid's role model. He was _the_ Grim Reaper. The original. Kid totally idolizes him," Eibon whispered. "That would make him...your great-grandfather, right?"

Kid blinked, heat rising in his cheeks. "'Gr-great grandfather? What-?"

Eibon smirked. "Come on. I know you're Kid's son."

Stuttering and blinking, Kid stumbled on a few excuses. Eibon, still smirking, ignored him and continued to scribble on the paper.

"Kid? What's wrong?" Liz asked as her and her sister leaned over to see what was wrong. Shinigami was still shouting, but no one paid attention.

"H-He knows...where we're from," Kid stuttered. Liz blinked.

"Well, no, I don't know _where_ you're from or _when_ you're from, but I do know that you're not from here, or from this time," Eibon replied, not looking up. "Speaking of which, when are you going to tell Kid...Kid?"

Kid blinked. "H-How did you know what my name was?"

"I asked Kid what he wanted to name his son, if he ever had one. He said he would keep with tradition- he's that type of guy. Also, he said that it was cute." Kid resisted the urge to smack his forehead. His father loved the word 'cute'.

"HEY!" Shinigami screeched, right next to Kid and Eibon's ears. The two groaned, holding their hands to their ears and bending over in pain. Patty, her and her sister not as badly affected, began to laugh. "PAY ATTENTION!" the reaper continued to yell, standing. "THIS IS IMPORTANT!"

"STOP YELLING AT ME!" Kid yelled back, righting himself. Shinigami leaned down, reducing the gap between their faces.

"Heh? Is this in...insub...what was that word again?" he asked Eibon.

"Insubordination," Eibon replied calmly.

"Yeah, insubordination!" Shinigami snapped, scowling. Kid glared back in defiance. "So what if it is?"

"Yeah?"

"Yeah!"

"Rawr!" Shinigami yelled, tackling Kid. The two rolled on the ground, each wrestling for dominance. Eventually, they stopped rolling, Shinigami straddling Kid's waist. "Respect your leader!" the older reaper ordered, attempting to pin Kid down by the arms. "Never!" the younger shouted, pushing Shinigami's arms to the sides. The two growled as they shoved at each other.

Eibon and Liz sighed in harmony and went to go separate their meisters, Patty laughing all the while. Eventually, the four ended up in a dog pile, two trying to separate and two interlocking limbs tighter.

Suddenly, there was a beeping sound. All five of them looked up, trying to detect the source of the noise. Their gazes locked on a small item sculpted like a dragon, its red eyes lighting up with each beep. They had only a sparse glance at it before the beeping increased.

Before they knew it, the four involved in the pile were blasted into the air by an explosion. They yelled- Shinigami perhaps the loudest- as they were tossed upwards. They floated in the air for just a moment, their cries dying down. Unfortunately, as what goes up must come down, they sank through the air before picking up speed. They all flailed their arms as Patty, safe on the ground, laughed at them. Shinigami hit the ground first, grunting sharply as Kid fell on top of him. Eibon collapsed on Kid, causing both reapers pain. Patty laughed at their predicament before her older sister fell on her.

The five of them groaned. Shinigami forced open a golden eye to look up in search of the attacker, like any good shinigami would do. Standing in front of them with her hands on her hips was a girl about their age. She had grayish blond hair that went to her shoulders and bright red eyes. A gray cloak was snapped to her neck along with a dark cobalt robe that adorned her small figure, with boots that went to her knees and a witch hat with a scary face cut into it placed haphazardly on her head.

"Rawr!" she threatened menacingly.

Shinigami growled in reply, heaving himself from the pile to get closer to her face in an attempt to intimidate her.

"You witch! You attacked us!" he shouted.

"Name's Mabaa!" the girl introduced loudly without any indication. "The Dragon Witch! I'm gonna be the future Grand Witch! Who are you?"

"I'm Death the Kid!" Shinigami snapped just as fiercely back. "I'm the future Grim Reaper!"

"You're the Reaper's son?" Mabaa scoffed. "Then we must be sworn enemies!"

"Yeah!" The two growled at each other, each trying to be threatening but ultimately being childish. Eibon was about to separate his Meister from the witch when he spotted a shy girl standing behind the latter. She had a simple witch hat on, a blue cloak snapped to her dark green robe. It contrasted her dark, long hair. She shuffled over to him, blushing.

"I'm very sorry," she apologized, bowing twice in respect. "Mabaa-sama is a very outgoing girl."

"Don't worry about it," Eibon tried to console her. "Kid's the same way. I'm sorry about him."

The girl smiled. "I'm Odia, the Raven Witch."

"Eibon," the other replied, smiling in return. They shook hands.

The two watched as the witch broke off their growling contest to give Shinigami a peck on the cheek. "You're cute for a reaper," she giggled.

Shinigami blushed slightly, rubbing his cheek violently. "Ew! Witch cooties!" he whined. He escaped to the ladder entrance to their tree house. "Eibon! Cam! To the secret tree house of safety!"

"Hey! Can I join?" she yelled up to the window. Shinigami opened the window and poked his head out.

"No girls allowed!"

"But what about those two?" she demanded, pointing to Liz and Patty.

"Um...no witches allowed!" Shinigami shut the door and shoved a piece of paper on the window with the words "NO WITCHES ALLOWED!" scribbled on it. Mabaa growled.

"Fine! Be that way!" Shoving a hand in her robe, she retrieved an exact replica of the exploding dragon and threw it at the window. It crashed through the glass, and soon the group heard a panicked squeal. Shinigami jumped out the window just as the dragon exploded, sending shards of wood flying. All that was left after the explosion was the foundation of the tree house.

"Mabaa-sama!" the girl cried. She turned to Eibon and bowed furiously. "I'm very sorry!"

Eibon only laughed it off, not used to being bowed to. "It's no problem! We'll fix it up!" Meanwhile, Shinigami whined and yelled in the background. "Really, don't worry about it!"

Suddenly, Mabaa was in his face, pulling the younger witch to the side. "Don't even think about it, nerd!" she snapped. "C'mon, Odia!" She pushed the younger witch off, leading her as far away from Eibon as possible while glaring at the scientist. Odia waved shyly at him, and he returned it, blushing. Suddenly, he felt a pressure on his shoulder and felt himself moving.

"Don't even think about it, mister!" Shinigami snapped. "We're going home, now!"

Kid and the twins watched them go with a shocked expression on their face.

"C'mon, let's go," Kid said, pointing at the retreating boys, his stunned expression not fading.

/

Shinigami stomped his feet all the way to his house. "That witch! She's got some nerve! I'll definitely kill her first when I become the shinigami!" Eibon just rolled his eyes and smiled, thinking of the raven-haired girl. Suddenly, his thoughts snapped to Kid. He elbowed the younger reaper.

"Hey, you should tell him now," he whispered.

"What? Why now?"

"Why not? It's not like he'll get it on his own."

_"Exactly!"_

"Don't you think he deserves to know? I'm sure he'll figure it out when he's older."

"...well..."

"Then it's settled!" Eibon pushed Kid in the direction of his father. The latter ended up pushing into the older reaper, making him turn. "Huh? Cam?" he asked.

"Um...Kid, I have to tell you something."

The mentioned tilted his head. "What's up?"

"Um..." Kid tapped his fingers together, unable to meet his father's questioning gaze. "Um...well...um..."

"You're Cam's father!" Eibon yelled. He suddenly covered his mouth, gasping.

Shinigami blinked twice. "What? Yeah, right, Eibon. Lame joke."

"No, it's true!" Liz chimed in. "We came from the future."

The reaper wrinkled his nose. "Okay, guys, seriously, not funny."

Kid touched his father's arm. "No...no, it's really true. You're my _chichiue_."

Shinigami looked at Kid with a doubtful expression, but he caught Kid's honest, truthful expression. He caught the way Kid's hair looked so similar to his, he saw how Kid's golden eyes reflected his own. He saw himself in Kid. He stepped back, shaking his head slightly.

"N-No...no..."

Kid blinked sadly. Did his father hate him now?

"No way! You mean when you said all those things about your old man, that was actually..._me?_" Shinigami demanded, grasping Kid by the shoulders.

Kid nodded, keeping his head low.

"And your real name...it's Death the Kid, like mine!"

Kid nodded again.

"And I'm...Shinigami-sama?" he remembered, recalling when Kid told him his father's many names.

Kid nodded thrice.

"That's...so cool!" Kid looked up curiously into Shinigami's bright, excited eyes. "I'm gonna grow up to be awesome! Which, I mean, I knew already, but now I _definitely_ know!" He let go of Kid to spin around, dancing. He grabbed Eibon by the wrists and they spun around. "Yay, yay! Eibon-chan, I want you to call me Shinigami-sama from now on, okay~? Yay!"

/

"Okay, quiz time! My current Death Scythe is...Spirit Albarn, right~?"

"Right," Kid replied, nodding. His father had wanted to know everything about his current life. Kid didn't feel it was too bad to tell him, but he stressed the importance of doing everything to the dot if time were ever the stay the same.

"Right! And _his_ partner before being mine was...Franken Stein."

"Actually, Kami Albarn made him a Death Scythe. But Stein-hakase was his first partner."

"Oh, got it. Why did they split up?"

"Stein kept dissecting him."

Shinigami was silent. "...Oh." He perked up. "But wait, what happened to Eibon?"

"...I'm not sure. You don't talk about him much," Kid lied. He thought it would be best not to divulge _that_ piece of information.

"Oh, okay," Shinigami accepted hesitantly. He decided not to pry. "But hey, when are you guys going back?"

Kid looked sheepish, not meeting his father's eyes. "We...don't know how."

"Huh? But you _have_ to go back! The future me probably misses you a lot!" Kid blushed at the thought of his father worrying over him. But...he would know where he was, right? Or maybe he didn't remember...

"Eibon, can you help?" Shinigami asked, looking to his friend for support. Eibon paused, in thought.

"Well, I have been working on something. I'm sure I can modify it to send you guys back home in no time. I'll go back to the lab and work on it."

Shinigami tackled his friend in a big hug. "Thank you, Eibon-chan!" he cried. Eibon chuckled slightly and pried the reaper off, waving to the rest of the gang as he ran off, his lab coat swirling behind him.

The reaper hummed along with a song in his head as he walked home and asked Kid some other questions about his life. Kid answered the best he could, smiling at his father happily. Liz and Patty smiled at each other as well, happy that their meister was happy.

Suddenly, Shinigami stopped.

In the doorway of his one-story house, on the welcome mat, was the bloodied corpse of his mother.

"...Mama?"

/

WHO MISSED THIS STORY? YES? YES I BET YOU DID. I'm sorry for not updating; this chapter was the hardest for me! I was sure of how to set up the conflict but I wasn't sure what else to do for the entire chapter. So that's where Mabaa comes in! lDD

Odia is obviously named after Odin, the Norse god with the raven. That's the name I give Eibon's future wife. (Even though ShinigamixEibon RULESSS but I gotta go with canon here. So I put in ShinigamixMabaa for my own amusement since I love that pairing too. And it's het. HET. IN MY STORY. I KNOW.)

Anyways. I hope you guys enjoyed it! 8D


	6. Let's Rock! I'm the Reaper Now

"Mama!" Shinigami cried again, rushing over to kneel down by his mother's body. Her thin dark hair lay splashed across her face and neck, and the woman looked peaceful. However, on her neck, there were three deep gashes running from her jaw to her shoulder blade. Blood trickled down and stained her skin and dress.

As a shinigami, Shinigami knew that her soul had already passed on.

He stood, facing his home, face emotionless. He turned to Kid with a serious air about him.

"Kid, stay here," he ordered quietly.

"No," Kid answered simply.

Shinigami grit his teeth in anger. "I'm your-"

"I'm not going to let you go in alone," Kid replied nonchalantly. "Especially without Eibon. I know what you're going to do." He walked up to his father, boldly clapping his hands on the other's shoulders. Looking down into his father's shocked face, he gave a reassuring grin. "We'll do it together."

The older reaper slowly frowned. "I don't like it."

"I'll be fine, Dad," Kid sighed, smiling. He held out his hands, and Liz and Patty glowed a bright pink before shooting into his hands. Shinigami's frown slowly grew into an accepting smile. He whirled around, his cloak trailing behind him as he perched daintily on the balls of his feet.

"This is it!"

Shinigami grinned.

**«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»**

"Ugh!" Shinigami grunted as he slammed his back into a wooden wall. He glanced up.

In the middle of the wooden room stood Shinigami's father, the current Death. His cloak weaving back and forth, he wore a very true human skull on his face, glaring at the two reapers as they glared at him. Fog covered the battlefield.

Growling, Shinigami scrambled to his feet and ran towards his father, his body low to the ground. He could hear and see the pink bullets hitting his father's cloak, but he seemed unaffected. As Shinigami neared him, he didn't move.

The young reaper swiped at his father's feet, only for his father to dodge it swiftly. Shinigami threw multiple chops and punches at his father's body, but the Reaper only dodged them.

"Is that it?" he taunted. "I hoped your little coup d'état would at least be a little more exciting." He grasped Shinigami's wrist as the latter tried to chop him. Death threw his son backwards, causing him to roll violently and smash into the house's foundation.

"_Chichiue!_" Kid cried. He grit his teeth, glaring at Death. Death only raised his claws in reply as a scythe materialized out of thin air. A skull embroidered black and gray scythe fell easily into his hands.

"What is that?" Kid breathed.

Groaning, Shinigami lifted his head out of the rubble and gasped as he saw the scythe. "The Reaper's Scythe..." he murmured. He rose, pointing at it.

"That scythe is mine!" he yelled. Death spun around, making Shinigami gasp and clasp his hands over his mouth.

Death raised the scythe, swinging it down. It slid through the ground and made a long break, splitting the room into two halves. Shinigami quickly ran to one side of the room, but something shadowy grabbed his leg and pulled. The reaper scowled, smashing the shadow on the head with his foot.

Suddenly, two more shadows came from the fiery abyss. They each grabbed Shinigami's leg and pulled him toward the break. Scowling, the reaper looked up to see his father advancing on the stunned Kid. Backing up, Kid shot a barrage of bullets but they did nothing.

"Kid!" Shinigami cried, his hand outstretched. Desperately, he tried to pull his leg free, but more shadows only clung to him.

Kid was now cornered, nowhere to go. He glanced up into Death's mask, frightened. He could do nothing but watch as Death raised his scythe, preparing to cut him into two. Kid shut his eyes.

Suddenly, he found himself being pushed away. He opened his eyes to see Eibon's hand outstretched to him, the other arm transformed into a blade that had blocked Death's attack. Eibon had pushed him out of the way and saved him.

Kid hit the ground, but smiled up at the brunette. "That was fast."

Eibon reached in his coat with his free hand and extracted a familiar glass paperweight. "I was almost done with it, anyway," he replied smoothly, despite the fact that he was shaking under Death's force. Kid quickly smashed Liz's barrel into the eldest reaper, freeing Eibon.

"Eibon!" Shinigami shouted happily, still chained. Eibon smiled at his friend, quickly surrounding himself in light. Raising a hand, Shinigami grasped Eibon's handle and spun him around until he stabilized. Once he did so, the reaper cut the shadows away at his feet. Turning to his father, he twirled the scythe and shouldered it.

"Grim Reaper Death, your soul has strayed from light! For the sake of the world's order, I will take your soul!" Shinigami yelled, determined.

Death chuckled darkly. "Come at me, then!"

Growling, Shinigami raced forward and swung Eibon. Death blocked it with his own attack. The two continued this pattern for a while, fighting down the length of the house.

Suddenly, a particularly powerful block from Death sent Eibon flying out of Shinigami's hands. Shinigami reached for the scythe, but was stopped by a large shadow. He looked up to see his father's mask glaring at him. Shinigami shook, frozen in place by fear. Sweat dripped down his neck.

Suddenly, the squish of metal through flesh reached his ears.

But he felt nothing.

His golden eyes widened fully, his face drowning in hopelessness. He felt like he was going to cry, but the most he could manage was his twitching eye.

In front of him, Kid smiled at him with a gray blade embedded in his stomach.

"KID!"

The mentioned fell into his father's lap, ignoring the way Shinigami's hand pressed against his wound. He smiled up at the despaired reaper.

"Hey, this reminds me of a time when I was little," he coughed, blood trickling out of his smile. "And I fell down a hill and scratched myself really badly. I cried, but I thought no one would come for me. But the next moment you were there...and you looked really worried, like you do now." Kid paused to cough up some more blood. "Your mask was off, then."

Kid remembered the way the adult reaper looked down worriedly into his son's face, asking desperately if he was all right. His striped black hair blocked out the blinding sun, shining behind him like a savior. The boy felt shame for making his father worry, but his father only hugged him tightly, saying that he was glad he was all right.

In the present, the younger Shinigami could only imitate that worried stare, closing his hand around his son's. Kid smiled up at his father. "Don't worry, _chichiue_...I've taken much worse than this. I just need to...rest a bit."

With this, he closed his eyes and relaxed.

Shinigami carefully set his son down, making sure he was comfortable. He walked over to where Eibon lay and grasped the end of his handle, dragging him along the ground.

"Hey, hey!" Eibon warned.

Shinigami ignored him, leaning into a fighting position.

"YOU BAS_**TAAARD!**_"

He sped forward, swiping at Death with his scythe. Death blocked his attack again, but before he could point it out, Shinigami attacked again. His attacks were faster and harder than before. He put all his fury and hate into his cuts, but didn't utter a sound.

Suddenly, he fell back. He gripped Eibon's handle.

"Soul Resonance!" they cried together. The two put all their power into the resonance, expanding their combined wavelength. Shinigami's yellow soul swelled, enveloping a good part of the room. Skull-like shadows darted around the circumference of it.

Shinigami braced himself as Eibon suddenly jerked into a large, clear white blade. Death's eyeholes widened a fraction as the younger reaper sprung into the air.

"SHINIGAMI HUNTER!" he screamed, bringing the blade down on Death. Death raised his blade, but Eibon broke through it quickly, slicing through Death's mask.

Labored breaths filled the air. Eibon lay on the floor as Shinigami stared down into his father's true face, his mask lay broken at his side.

Three complete white lines nuzzled themselves into black hair that framed a pale white face. Yellow eyes stared at his son, blood pouring out of his scowl.

His father's true face looked exactly like him.

Death smirked. "How does it feel, knowing you'll grow up to be exactly like me?"

"I'll never be like you," Shinigami replied.

Suddenly, a bright light enveloped the two reapers.

"Kid?" Eibon cried. "Shinigami-sama!"

**«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»**

Shinigami looked around.

He was in a strange place. Cragged blackened rocks surrounded him, some filled with a green liquid. The murky brown sky looked like it stretched off forever. Souls meandered aimlessly by.

Shinigami glanced to his right to see his father on his knees, still breathing heavily from the fatal wound on his forehead. Before he could ask his father any questions, someone advanced on them.

An elderly looking purple ghoul peered into his eyes. Shinigami, caught by surprise, stumbled back into a blue one. Soon, the two reapers were surrounded.

"This one has slain his father," one whispered in a sharp tongue.

"But his father was rightfully slain!" another hissed.

"It doesn't matter! The boy had no right to-"

In a matter of moments, the ghouls broke out in a full-blown argument over Shinigami. He looked around confusedly. Suddenly, a deep rumble filled the air.

"That's enough."

Shinigami snapped his neck forward as a shadow loomed over him. A hooded figure was standing over him, causing the ghouls to scatter wildly. The young reaper peered under the hood to see a man in his fifties staring down at him, his yellow eyes shining under black hair.

"W-Who are you?" Shinigami tried to demand, but it came out timid because of his fear. The hooded man just smiled reassuringly.

Shinigami paused a while, trying to figure it out. The man looked just like him, so he must be related to him. His cloak was old, tied together with a rope belt. Old...related...finally, Shinigami snapped his fingers.

"You! Are you my Honorable Grandfather?" he asked.

The man grinned. "That's right, kiddo."

Shinigami's eyes widened. He had never met his grandfather (he had died when his father took over), only heard stories of him. He was the one who had developed _shinigami __taijutsu,_ the shinigami martial art. He was the one who founded the Grim Reaper's duty- to protect the world's balance. He was Shinigami's idol.

"H-Honorable Grandfather," Shinigami stuttered, bowing deeply in respect. "Wh-Where am I?"

His grandfather smiled. "You needn't be so afraid. As for this place, well, can you take a guess?"

"Umm..." Shinigami glanced around. "There are souls of the dead here, so maybe this place is...the netherworld?"

"You're right. So, you ask, why are you here?"

"Um...yeah."

His grandfather smiled warmly at him. "You're defeated the shinigami. This is your crowning as the new Grim Reaper."

Before Shinigami could say anything, the Reaper extended a gnarled claw and touched the Sanzu lines on Shinigami's hair.

Suddenly, everything became clear. Shinigami could feel the cracks beneath the ground, see the glimmer of his father's blood as it dripped down his face, and breathe the energy of the ghouls and souls surrounding them. He could see the whole of the netherworld, from an aerial view or down to the smallest rocks near the smallest cracks. His senses opened.

Shinigami gasped, falling forward slightly as another wave hit him straight on. He could feel his soul expanding, he could feel the power rise within him and warm his entire body. He felt like he could take on the world and win. A human hand on his chest stopped him from falling any farther. Suddenly, he snapped into the present, feeling his grandfather in front of him. Darting his yellow eyes to the side, he saw his father panting heavily beside him, drenched in sweat. He was panting heavily, as well.

His eyes snapped back to his grandfather as the man stared at him worriedly. "Are you all right? I would imagine it would be hard because you are young..."

Shinigami nodded hesitantly, gulping for air. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine."

The hooded man turned to a pool of green liquid, motioning for Shinigami to follow him. The former motioned for the younger to look into the pool. When he did, Shinigami gasped.

His half-lines had been completed.

"I'm...I'm symmetrical now!" he cried happily. "Oh, wait 'til I tell..." He turned to his grandfather with a frown. "Wait, is Kid-kun all right?"

"You're the Reaper now!" his grandfather chuckled. "You should know."

Shinigami closed his eyes and concentrated on reaching the living world. He focused on his home, feeling the four souls in there. All four of them were alive, one barely but still alive. Shinigami opened his eyes, smiling at his reflection. "Yeah, he'll be all right. He's my son, after all!"

His grandfather only smiled warmly at the boy's reflection. He turned Shinigami towards him, kneeling down to his level. A flesh-covered hand ruffled his black hair. "You have earned your Sanzu lines. Wear them with pride."

Shinigami beamed. "I won't let you down, Honorable Grandfather!"

**«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»**

Shinigami gasped as he shot up, smacking his head against something hard. He groaned as another groaned with him. He recognized it as Eibon's groan. He had been in his lap and he had bumped heads with his weapon. He gasped loudly and hugged his friend. "Ei-chan!"

Eibon pulled them apart to gaze at Shinigami's forehead.

"Kid..."

"Yeah, I did it."

**«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»**

"Well, I guess this is goodbye," Shinigami sniffed, sobs racking through his voice. The five were outside the house, the paperweight now held in Kid's hand.

Kid smiled. "Don't worry, I'll see you soon."

"Yeah, but _I_ won't see you until _forever!_" Shinigami cried, enveloping his son in a hug. Kid laughed and hugged his father back. Shinigami sniffed and sobbed, his shoulders heaving. Suddenly, he broke the hug to hug Liz and Patty at the same time, still sobbing. "I'm gonna miss you guys too!" he cried.

Kid chuckled and turned to Eibon. The brown-haired boy shifted uncomfortably. "Um...bye," he muttered. All of a sudden, arms wrapped around him. He glanced up curiously to see Kid hugging him. He smiled softly and hugged him back. Then, two pairs of arms wrapped around the two. A third pair soon joined them, causing Eibon to snort quietly.

"Shinigami-sama...um..."

"I felt left out!" he cried, causing the four to laugh.

After Eibon showed Kid how to work it, the younger reaper opened a portal. Eibon nodded. "This should take you to your own time."

Kid smiled. "Thanks."

Liz and Patty waved to them, saying their goodbyes as they jumped through the swirling vortex. Kid walked towards it, but turned back. His father, wiping his tears away, waved to him along with his friend.

Kid smiled warmly at him.

"See you, _chichiue._"

_You know, I used to think my father and I had nothing in common._

_Now, I might be more like him than I think._

**«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»**

**One more chapter, you guys!**


	7. Epilogue: The End of This Crap

The trio flew out of the swirling vortex, roughly grazing the ground on their landing. The portal immediately closed behind them, sucking in air as it popped. The three groaned as they attempted to untangle themselves.

"Everything is the way we left it," Kid murmured with a sigh, brushing off his suit as he inspected the untouched room. "Even the aggravating dust."

"Kid? Liz? Patty!" came a girl's yell. Now separated, the trio glanced towards the entrance of the dark room to see Maka and her partner Soul run into the room.

"Guys! Are you okay? They said you disappeared on your mission, but Shinigami-sama said he knew where you were and not to go looking for you...but I couldn't help it!" Maka cried, helping the three up worriedly.

The three froze, all exchanging nervous glances. "SHINIGAMI-SAMA!" the twins yelled, while Kid yelled, "_CHICHIUE!_" Not even stopping to thank Soul and Maka, the three dashed out of the abandoned hut.

Soul opened his mouth, but Maka cut him off.

"Don't say it."

:; :; :; :; :; :;

Now at the large, lumbering building of Shibusen, the trio sprinted through the empty halls.

"He still remembers?" Liz panicked.

"Probably," Kid replied nervously, looking ahead and not at his partner. Millions of thoughts ran through his mind, none of them particularly pleasing.

It wasn't long before the trio ended up at the entrance to the Death Room. All of them shook. None of them had the courage to knock.

"Come in you guys~!" a nasally voice called from inside. Grimacing at each other, the trio quietly argued over who would go in first. Finally, Kid came out the loser. He opened the door to his father's office slowly.

The walk to the Death Room was the longest three minutes of any of their lives. The twins' glances shifted constantly from left to right, while Kid bit his lip nervously. None of them knew how well Shinigami-sama would take it when they told him- or rather, he knew- that they had been sneaking around with his younger self. Eventually, they reached the platform upon which the Reaper was waiting for them patiently, bobbing up and down in his reaper form.

"Well, well, hello you three!" he greeted as they entered. Standing at the base of the stairs, the trio mumbled some greetings back, their heads bowed low.

Shinigami sighed. He waved his giant glove to him in a motion to get the trio to move forward. "Come closer, you guys."

The three shuffled forward as a group, still not climbing the stairs.

"Closer."

They went up one step.

"You guys! Honestly!" Quickly losing his patience, the Reaper huffed and decided to go to them instead. Shuffling over to the three, he looked down at them blankly. The three tried to keep their heads down, each one sweating nervously.

"...I'm not mad~"

Confused, the three raised their heads. Kid blinked. "You're...not, _chichiue?_"

"Nope~ Why would I be~?" the Reaper sang, finally understanding the trio's odd behavior. The aforementioned sighed simultaneously in relief. "Did you guys have fun? It was really a blast, wasn't it~? I was little annoying back then...I probably still am, right Kiddo-kun?"

Suddenly, shadows wrapped around the chuckling Reaper. His form shifted and molded until it was slightly shorter and had a more human shape. Laughing, Shinigami raised a gloved human hand and took off his mask to reveal a young man of about thirty. He had the same yellow eyes and black hair as Kid, but the difference was that he had three complete Sanzu lines. A warm smile graced his face, and Kid could see the boy he met previously was much older now. Dressed in his reaper cloak and black pants, he walked down the stairs and tapped Kid on the forehead, grinning.

"You should've seen your faces! You guys looked like I was gonna skin you alive or something!" he teased, laughing. Kid blushed in embarrassment, while the twins exchanged glances at this new form for the Reaper.

Spinning on his heel, the reaper danced lightly up the stairs and towards his mirror, his boots tapping as he did so. "You guys can go now, I'm sure you have better things to do than talk to little old me~" he sang.

Kid signaled for the two girls to leave without him. Nodding, the twins turned and quietly tip-toed out of the Death Room. Meanwhile, Kid took a deep breath and ascended the stairs. He could see his father watching his reflection as he stepped towards him. Smiling, the Reaper turned to face his son.

"What's up, Kiddo?"

"_Chichiue._ I have a question."

"Shoot!"

"When I first arrived...we heard you and Eibon coming. So we hid in the closet...and you sensed us through Soul Perception and checked it but...I think we...turned invisible," Kid tried to explain, knowing how awkward that sounded.

"Ah!" his father brightened, pride seeping into his voice. "So that's what it was. Yes. Your shinigami powers sure are improving, huh~? It's a shinigami thing~ I'll teach you one of these days how to control it~"

Kid nodded solemnly. Pulling a smile, his father waved his hands in an 'off-with-you' gesture. "If that's all you need, why don't you go play with your friends? I'm sure they miss you, and it's pretty boring in here~"

Suddenly, Kid started slightly as he remember what had happened to Eibon, his father's best friend. The wizard had disappeared after fusing with BREW to give his father the power to save the world. And that was only _after_ he betrayed the latter to side with the witches and disappeared for who knows how long. Come to think of it, except for conversing with his Death Scythe, his father didn't have a great social life.

Having now turned back to the mirror, Shinigami stood and waited for any calls, quietly watching his reflection in the mirror as he linked his hands behind his back. Suddenly, he felt two thin arms wrapped around his middle and squeeze. He looked down to see Kid hugging him.

Smiling warmly, the shinigami returned the hug. "My~ Mister Apathetic~ What was that for~?" he asked, pulling apart.

Kid only smiled up at his father. "I love you, _chichiue_."

Bewildered, the Reaper cracked a grin, cocking his eyebrow. "Yeah, I love you too, Kiddo-kun."

The younger blinked as he saw his father's younger face flash a cocky grin at him. He shook his head to clear the image and glanced back into his father's current confused expression. Kid only smiled and began to walk away, only turning around to wave at his father before running out of the Death Room to meet up with his friends.

"Bye, _chichiue!_"

"See ya, Kiddo!"

Shinigami watched his son go with a small smile on his face. He reached a thin hand into his cloak and wrapped thin fingers around something hard deep in the inside pocket. Extracting it, he smirked and gazed into the same crystal ball that Kid left with him all those years ago.

As he turned it, light scraped the surface and another face was reflected.

"Shinigami-sama? Shinigami-sama!" came a call. A young boy with hazel-colored locks waved to his friend, motioning for him to come over. The other- another boy about the same age with black striped hair- grinned and yelled back, tucking the paperweight safely into his cloak.

/

And this marks the end of _Through the Crystal Ball_! I really hope you guys enjoyed this crap, becaaause...

...

You're getting a sequel!

Yep, the idea has been bouncing around in my head for a couple months now, and I think I have a decent enough story structure to begin. The basic plot is that Shinigami and Eibon(now about fifteen; by the way- I know I didn't make this clear- but by Shinigami's speech and actions, I wrote him around twelve or thirteen in this fic) take a leap through the same crystal ball paperweight and end up in Kid's time! I'm gonna have so much fun writing this fic, I just know it.

(I'm also thinking of having a spinoff lemon series centered around the as-of-now-unnamed sequel. Because I'm perverted like that. And 15!Shinigami/Soul is now my OTP. Trust me, that'll make more sense later. But I also support 15!Shinigami/Kid, 15!Shinigami/older!Shinigami, and older!Shinigami/15!Shinigami/Kid OT3. Oh, and Maka/15!Eibon [that'll make more sense later as well]. Yep, I'mma perv.)

Sorry for not updating _anything_ lately! I've had major writer's block.

I think I'm the only one who uses 'Shinigami-sama' nowadays rather than 'Lord Death'. Do you think I should switch?


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